Main points in Rio+20 draft text - The Economic Times

Posted - 21 Jun, 2012, 01.48PM IST, Reuters - The Economic Times

RIO DE JANEIRO: Countries attending a U.N. environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday will consider a draft agreement on global green growth, but expectations were low for an agreement.

The summit, known as Rio+20, comes 20 years after the first Rio Earth summit in 1992 cleared the way for a global treaty on biodiversity, and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases, which is due to expire this year.

The event, which drew representatives from 190 countries, is supposed to produce a series of political agreements to improve standards of living while protecting the environment.

Diplomats who have been negotiating for more than a year, drew up the 49-page draft text on Tuesday and will present it to leaders for adoption by Friday. Some of the main areas covered in the text are outlined below.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

It was hoped that Rio+20 would hammer out goals across core areas like food security, water and energy. But expectations were low that it would produce a defined set of mandatory measures with timelines because politicians are more focused on the global financial crisis and unrest in the Middle East.

The text proposed launching a process to agree on sustainable development goals, or SDGs, which will likely build on and overlap with a current round of objectives known as the millennium development goals, which U.N. members agreed to pursue at least through 2015.

"We resolve to establish an inclusive and transparent inter-governmental process on SDGs that is open to all stakeholders with a view to developing global sustainable development goals to be agreed by the United Nations General Assembly (in September)," the text said. When defined and agreed on, SDGs would likely come into force in 2013/2014, observers said.

FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES

It was also hoped that Rio+20 could firm up a commitment for all countries to eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels. Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 would reduce annual global energy demand by 5 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 6 percent, according to the International Energy Agency.
 In 2009, G20 leaders agreed to do this in principle but no timelines have since been set. A G20 meeting in Mexico, which ended on Tuesday, also failed to firm up the idea.
 The Rio+20 draft text reaffirmed previous commitments by countries to "phase out harmful and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption and undermine sustainable development." But it stopped short of beefing up the voluntary commitment with timetables or more details, which disappointed some business and environmental groups.

OCEANS

The text committed to "take action to reduce the incidence and impacts of such pollution on marine ecosystems, including through the effective implementation of relevant conventions adopted in the framework of the International Maritime Organization."

It also proposed that countries take action by 2025 to achieve "significant reductions" in marine debris to prevent harm to the marine environment, and committed to implement measures to prevent the introduction of alien invasive marine species and manage their adverse environmental impacts. It also reiterated a need to work further on preventing ocean acidification.

However, an eagerly awaited decision on a governance structure for the high seas was put off for a few years. The United States, Japan, Canada, Russia and Venezuela opposed strong language to implement it, observers said.
 
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